prostaglandin inhibition and immune checkpoint blockade in melanoma

Conditions: Stage III Cutaneous Melanoma; Stage IIIA Cutaneous Melanoma; Stage IIIB Cutaneous Melanoma; Stage IIIC Cutaneous Melanoma; Stage IV Cutaneous Melanoma

Summary: this phase ii trial studies how well pembrolizumab, ipilimumab, and aspirin work in treating patients with melanoma that has spread to other places in the body or cannot be removed by surgery. monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab and ipilimumab, may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. aspirin may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. giving pembrolizumab, ipilimumab, and aspirin may work better in treating patients with melanoma.

primary objectives: i. to evaluate the overall response rate (orr) by week 12 in patients with stage iii unresectable/stage iv melanoma. secondary objectives: i. to determine the median progression free survival, overall survival, and toxicity profile of the combination of ipilimumab, pembrolizumab and high dose aspirin in patients with stage iii unresectable/iv melanoma. outline: patients receive pembrolizumab intravenously (iv) over 30 minutes on day 1, ipilimumab iv over 60 minutes on day 1 for courses 1-4, and aspirin orally (po) twice daily (bid) on days 1-21. courses repeat every 3 weeks in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. after completion of study treatment, patients are followed up for 30 days.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * patients must have histologically confirmed melanoma that is metastatic or unresectable and for which standard curative or palliative measures do not exist or are no longer effective * eastern cooperative oncology group (ecog) performance status of 0 to 1 * leukocytes \>= 3,000/microliter (mcl) * absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,500/mcl * platelets \>= 100,000/mcl * total bilirubin within normal institutional limits * total bilirubin =\< 1.5 x institutional upper limit * aspartate aminotransferase (ast) \[serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (sgot)\] =\< 2.5 x institutional upper limit of normal * alanine aminotransferase (alt) \[serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (sgpt)\] =\< 2.5 x institutional upper limit of normal * creatinine =\< 1.5 x upper limit of normal (uln) * women of childbearing potential should have a negative urine or serum pregnancy within 72 hours prior to receiving the first dose of study drug; if the urine test is positive or cannot be confirmed as negative, a serum pregnancy test will be required * women of childbearing potential must be willing to use an adequate method of contraception, for the course of the study through 120 days after the last dose of study medication; note: abstinence is acceptable if this is the usual lifestyle and preferred contraception for the subject * men of childbearing potential must agree to use an adequate method of contraception, starting with the first dose of study therapy through 120 days after the last dose of study therapy; note: abstinence is acceptable if this is the usual lifestyle and preferred contraception for the subject * ability to understand a written informed consent document, and the willingness to sign it exclusion criteria: * any mental or physical condition or disease or past medical history that mitigates against following the protocol * history of active autoimmune diseases such as but not limited to crohn?s disease, ulcerative colitis, sjogren's syndrome, requiring active immune suppression; patient may have hay fever or controlled asthma * any solid organ transplant or bone marrow transplant * any other disseminated malignancy. exceptions include: localized prostate cancer, basal or squamous cell skin cancer, localized cervical cancer, and localized breast cancer. * uncontrolled central nervous system (cns) metastasis; patients with cns metastasis can be eligible if definitively treated with radiotherapy or surgery * any coexistent medical condition interfering with drug absorption * history of gastritis or malabsorption syndrome or aspirin intolerance or allergy * live vaccination within the last 30 days * history of multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes mellitus (dm) or guillain-barre syndrome * is pregnant or breastfeeding, or expecting to conceive or father children within the projected duration of the trial, starting with the screening visit through 120 days after the last dose of trial treatment